Door-operating device



J. H. WHALER.

DOOR OPERATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

Patented Oct. 17, 11922.

w h H I HI I I I I WMN I I I I H I I I I I I I I IVENTOR.

A TTORNEY.

J. H. WHALER.

DOOR OPERATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9, 1920.

1A 32 5? Patented Oct. 17, 11922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IHIIIHII John H W; G) -2) INVEN TOR.

A TTORNEX Patented. Got. 117, 1%)22.

tantra stares JQEI'N H. WHALER, 01E CANTON, UHIO.

DOORFOJPEMTING nnvron.

Application filed November 9, 1920. Serial No. 422,910..

' To all whom it camera:

Bait known that l, JOHN H. WHALER, a citizen of the United States, residin at 'Ganton, in the county of Stark and tate of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Door-Operating Device, of which the following 1s a specification.

This invention relates to mechanism for opening and closing doors of the type cemmonly used on barns, garages and the llke, in which a pair of doors is employed, one door being hinged at each side to the door casing, the said doors each swinging to,- ward the center of the door aperture.

The. main object of the invention is to produce a mechanism that will cause both of the doors to open and close simultaneously when either of them is swung.

Another object is the provision of means for locking. the doors in fully opened or closed position, so that they cannot be blown shutby the wind or caused to close in any other accidental manner.

A- still further object is the provision of means for closing'the doors from a predetermined point outside of the building so that the driver of an automobile or the like upon emerging from the building, may operate the mechanism to close the doors with out alighting'from the vehicle.

With these and other Ob]BClJS in View, the

' invention consists in the novel construction and arran ement of parts, hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claim, it bein understood that-various changes in the orm, proportions, size and -minor details of construction may be made within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advan tages of the invention;

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan view of my device with the doors shown in closed position in full lines, and with the mechanism and doors shown in dotted lines with the doors opened.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of my device, shownattached to the roof beams and doors of a garage or like structure.

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view oi a section of the trackwith the sliding carbottom; plan of asection of the track with the carriage in position thereon.

Fig. is an enlarged detail of the latch mechanlsm.

Fig. 6, is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

1mi1ar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawing. 7

At 1, I have shown the front wall of a barn, garage or similar structure, the said wall being provided with a doorway designed to be closed by doors 2 and?) which are hinged to opposite sides of the said doorway. Secured in approximate horizontal ahnement with the top of the doors 2 and 3, 1s a track indicated at 4, which track 1s composed of a pair of angle irons, arranged with their vertical portions facing each other, in spaced relation. This track w ll be secured to an suitable portion of the structure, as for'lnstance the beams 5 which support the roof of the building. The

tracl; i-will be placed as shown in Fig. 1, 1n direct alinement with the abutting inner edges! of the doors 2 and 3 and will extend rearwardly at right angles to the said doors, to a point within the said garage.

Mounted to slide upon the track a, is a carnage 6, which is formed by stamping a piece of sheet metal with lateral corner pro ect1ons and bending the said projections upwardly and inwardly as clearlv shown at 7 in Fig. 3, so that the said portions 7 engage the horizontal flanges of the L-shaped members composing the track. Pivotally secured to the under side of the carriage 6, at a point slightly to the rear of the forward edge of the said carriage, is'a cross arm indlcated at 8, which cross arm is provided with apertures 9 near either of its extremities.

At 10 is shown a pair of rods, each of which carries upon one end a hook portion 11, each of which hook portions is inserted through one of the apertures 9 in the cross arm 8. Upon each of the opposite ends of the rods 10 is formed a second and similar gaging eye members 13 and 14:, which eye members are carried by the doors 2 and 3 respectively. At the rear end of the carriage 6 is a central aperture shown at 15 through which aperture is secured one end of a cable 16 which cable extends rearwardly and over a pulley 17 and has secured upon its rear extremity a weight 18,

the purpose of which will be hereinafter set out.

Pivotally mounted between the vertical portions of the IL-shaped members of the track 4:, isa latch member indicated at 19."

The rearor-lower end of the latch member is arranged to engage the rear end of the carriage member 6 when the said carriage member is advanced to its extreme forward position and both of the doors are thrown completely open as [indicated by the dotted lines in Fig.- 1. The pivotal point of the latch member19 will be nearer the front extremity of the said latch member than the rear thereof, the said latch therefore having a continuous tendency to drop at the rear end. A member 20, which is of substan-- tially inverted U shape in cross section, and

having a slot shown at 21 in either of Iits side portions, is secured upon the track 4 by a rivet, bolt or the like indicated at 22, the

said bolt being the pivot of the latch member 19.

An eye 23 is formed at the forwardextremity of the member 20 and through the said. eye is secured one end of the cable 24 which cable passes forward and through the front-wall of the garage, terminating'at a point outside of the garage, convenient to be reached by the driver from the seat ofan automobile leaving'the arage. Secured to the rear end of the mem er 20 is one end of a coil spring 26, the opposite end of which will be attached'to a stud, bolt or the like secured to the track a. It will be'obvious from the fore oing that a pull exerted upon the outer enf of the cable 24;,- through its attachment to the eye 23carried by the sliding member 20, will ull the said slid ing member forwardly an cause it to ride over the. upwardly projecting front end of the latch member 19, which will obviously depress, the said'front end of the latch member, consequent(l]y causing its lower or rear end to be raise When the pull upon the cable 24 is released, it is obvious'that the coil spring 26 wlillreturn the sliding mem-- ber 20 to its rear position and allow the lower end of the latch member 19 to once more drop.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4:, it will be seen that I employ a coil spring shown at 27, which coil spring is attached at one end to the carriage 6, and at its opposite end to the end of the cross member 8 which carries the rod 10 engaging the door 2, which door it close will be seen by reference to Fig. 1, must close ahead of the door 3 in order that :the sealing strip 28 carried by the door 3 will properly upon the outside of the door 2. v I

In operation We will assume that the doors of the garage are closed and locked. The lock may be arranged to be operated from either the outside or inside of the garage. Assuming that the doors are unlocked from the outside, the door 3 will be swung open exerting a ull upon the rod 10 attached thereto, wl iich pull being transmitted through the cross. arm 8 to the carriage 6, will cause the said carriage to slide forward upon the track 4. It is obvious that the advancement of the carriage 6 will cause the rod 10 attachedto the door 2, to swing the 4 .said door 2 open simultaneously with the opening of the door 3. When the doors have reached the dotted line position indicated in Fig. 1, the carriage 6 will have advancedi to its extreme forward position, and in doing so will have lifted the rear end of the latch 19 and passed beneath the said latch allowing it to drop just as the said carriage reaches the limit of itsforward movement.

ward position on the track and closing thedoors. When, however, the automobile has been driven from the garage, the operator of the said machine by exerting a pull upon the outer end of the cable 2t will-slide the member 20 forward and over the upwardly projecting front end of the latch, causin its" rear or lower end to be lifted out o the path of the sliding carriage as previously described, and allowing the counter weight 18 to draw the said carriage rearwardly on the track and swing the doors shut. The coil spring 27, by exerting a slight pull upon the end of the cross arm which is attached bvthe rod 10 to the door 2, will swing the said cross arm, causing the door 2 to sli htly in advance of the door 3.

t will be obvious that by reversing the latch used for locking the doors open, a duplicate thereof may be employed to lock the doors in closed position.

Having now described my invention what ll claim as new and desire to cover by Letters Patent is In a door operating device,- a pair of spaced, horizontally disposed, parallel angle.

close aaasor said carriage being-arranged to slide upon said track when either door is moved and to move the other door simultaneously, a latch pivoted between said spaced angle members and arranged to engage 'saJid carriage when the said doors are fully opened, a U-shaped member fitting over said angle members and adjacent said latch, a cable. attached to said U-shaped member whereby said U-shaped member may be moved forwardly and into 10 position to raise said latch and release said carriage, and a weight operatively connected to said carriage whereby said carriage is moved rearwardly and said doors closed when said carriage is released by said latch. 15

In testimony that I claim the above, I

have hereunto subscribed my name.

JOHN H. WHALER. 

